Old time dyes: a How_to

[JD Alan]

Thanks for that info Ace. I don't believe pecans are grown here in Oregon. Commercially all we do up here is hazelnuts, at least that I am aware of. Can you use pecans that you buy in a store, or are they too processed to be any good for dye?

Regarding Walnuts, do you have to remove the hull from the nut, or can you just through the whole thing in a pot to make dye?

Oh the questions we come up with

 

[ChuckBurrows]

Like Ace I use the walnuts when green (a freined sends me a box every year from Georgia!) and I just cook up the whole thing, nut and all. After it cools I put on some rubber gloves and mash it all up and pull out the solid bits. These later get hulled and then the hard hulls are broken/ground up and thrown back in the pot........

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Marshall Will has told me that he makes his dye, after they dryed.

I've done it both ways. I do understand that the green hulls do better.

Good idea to merge these, Chuck. It's done.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

   Natural COFFEE DYE.

    I wanted to post this here since the subject of coffee dye comes up so often, so here it is,

quot from Marshal Will
How much coffee and how much iron? I may have to make some of this stuff. If it doesn't dye things the way I want, I can always drink it. 

   Will, I use  a one pound can of the DARK ROAST coffee, and about two heaping tablespoons of broken or crush iron, or you could use a dozen or so iron nails, I pour this into a 20 qt. pot filled 3/4 of the way up with water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for about three or so hours, let cool over night, and then pour into a plastic container of your choice, but one deep enough to submerge your leather in. the dye my last rig was done in , I made a year ago, so it doesn't go to waste. when dying I leave my leather in the dye, submerged for 24 hours, then pull my leather out and rinse off with fresh water, if you're doing a belt place the belt on your bench straight or curved as you want it, when dried it will hold its shape pretty well, same with your holster, but you want to mold the holster to your gun at this time, let dry 24 hours, then condition with Lexoil conditioner, and after an hour , you can start oiling with either EVOO, or Neatsfoot oil, you will find you can vary the depth or darkness of the leather by the amount of coats of oil you apply, when you get it the way you want, let it dry over night, if it still looks the way you like it, you can either use Skidmores leather cream or use another sealer finish or nothing at all, that's open to you, or make it darker by applying more oil.

                         tEN wOLVES  

 
   

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks for the info, TW. Can't be any stiffer than my dad's cowboy coffee he made when we were camping.

[Boothill Bob]

Howdy pards..
I´m trying to get black walnut hulls, but I dont find it here in Sweden.
Can I order it Would be fun to make my own dye, have made black
dye and thats a really nice color

[JD Alan]

BhB, I ordered some ground up walnut shells from a basket company a year ago or so. You put the hulls in a coffee pot, like a Mr. Coffee, and brew a pot. I bought a used Mr. Coffee at a thrift store for 5 bucks, and it works pretty good. The basket weaving people use it to dye their baskets.

This is the outfit I bought it from. The walnut hulls are the last item on the page, below all the Rit dyes.

Good luck, JD

[Boothill Bob]

Have to look that up JD. I live to far north or else I should
Pick them My self, but we dont have the trees here:-(

[Drayton Calhoun]

I posted one about trying vinegar and chewing tobacco. I read an article many years ago about using ammonia and chewing tobacco for a wood stain. I tried it on an old CVA Zouave and the color was a deep, brilliant red. I figured to try it with the vinegar and tobacco and stabilizing it with alcohol. Of course, I had better not get too close to any California lab rats...

[Johnny McCrae]

Here is a Rig I just made as a gift for a friend of mine. The Rig is nothing fancy but the finish turned out reasonably well.

Attached is a slide show showing the dye process I used.
http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/kk81/jvsaffran/Using%20Walnut%20Dye%20part%202/?action=view&current=a42fc8ef.pbw

This rig was immersed in home brewed Walnut Dye for four hours followed by two coats of Neets Foot Oil and two coats of Skidmores. A couple of things I really like about this process is the uniformity of the color and the dye does not bleed off or stain clothing. I have learned how to suspend the work in the dye vat so there are no areas where the dye does not penetrate.

Again special thanks go to Ten Wolves for all of his help in getting me going on Walnut Dye's.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

   Excellent tutorial John, after this has been posted for a while, I'm going to add it to our FAX/HOW TOO'S thread, thanks for taking the time to do this, I know it will be and is appreciated by all.

           tEN wOLVES 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

That's a fine rig, Johnny. The slide show is really well done. I love the natural dyes. Nice work.

Good idea, TW. It'll be a nice addition.

[KidTerico]

Johnny M. Thats a nice rig.  The color is great. I can see where you put a lot of work into it to come up with that finish.  He should be more than happy with it. I,m glad you and TW got me started with the Skidmores , especially you for your kind donation to me of it. Thanks John...Terry

[Dr. Bob]

Mighty fine looking rig there Johnny!

[Boothill Bob]

Soon I´m going crazy, I cant get black walnut hulls here in Sweden

[Mogorilla]

BHB, try an herbal shop.   Apparently they make a tea out of them (could not pay me to drink it!).   Anyway, I found mine at an herbal healing store.  Did not tell them I was using it to dye leather to hold a firearm, probably would not have gone with their sensibilities.

[Django]

Chuck recomends using distilled water with walnut dye but because of evaporation when "stewing" the walnut hulls this is proving to be expensive.
Can tap water be used,if not why?
I have well water, would this be ok?

Is it me or does the walnut dye smell a bit fishy??!!!!

"Skidmores" has been mentioned  a couple of times as a finish but what product in their range does it refer to?
Is there an alternative as it is elusive in the UK
Thanks
Django

[Cliff Fendley]

I use the water out of my dehumidifier since it's plentiful with the humidity we have. Our tap and well water is very hard here "Kentucky Limestone" so I would not use it.

I gather the Walnut's in the fall and brew up enough to last me a year. Can you go gather the Walnuts without buying them. The green husks actually work better anyway.

It does have a certain smell but I wouldn't call it fishy. You sure your not using pond water Just kidding

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Chuck recomends using distilled water with walnut dye but because of evaporation when "stewing" the walnut hulls this is proving to be expensive.
Can tap water be used,if not why?
I have well water, would this be ok?

Is it me or does the walnut dye smell a bit fishy??!!!!

"Skidmores" has been mentioned  a couple of times as a finish but what product in their range does it refer to?
Is there an alternative as it is elusive in the UK
Thanks
Django

    Django, I found the same thing when using distilled water, I switched to tap water, and it works just fine, so go ahead use it, I stopped using distilled water several years ago, all my natural dyes are made with tap water now.


                 tEN wOLVES 

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

I use the water out of my dehumidifier since it's plentiful with the humidity we have. Our tap and well water is very hard here "Kentucky Limestone" so I would not use it.

I gather the Walnut's in the fall and brew up enough to last me a year. Can you go gather the Walnuts without buying them. The green husks actually work better anyway.

It does have a certain smell but I wouldn't call it fishy. You sure your not using pond water Just kidding

  Your right Cliff, the green hulls work the best, I have a black walnut three that's my neighbors, it hangs over in my yard, so when the green hulls start falling off the tree, I gather them up and freeze them, then I will have a week that I'll do my natural dye cooking, and add the new to the old dye, this has been working well for me, and I prefer the natural dye over any of the others, that includes walnut, coffee, vinegaroon, and peacan. Cliff is also right about bad water, if you have really bad water, then another source might be better to use.

                 tEN wOLVES 

[Django]

Thanks guys, any thoughts on the Skidmores though?
Django

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy Django,

Sent you a PM regarding Skidmore's.

[Ragged Earl]

Can the rest of us get the info on Skidmore's?

[Johnny McCrae]

Here is a link to Skidmore's website.
http://www.skidmores.com/index.htm

The product used and talked about is Skidmore's Leather Cream. It is described on their website under the leather product section.

After dyeing a holster and applying 2-4 coats of Neet's Foot Oil, I finish the piece with 2-3 coats of Skidmore's Leather Cream. I let the Skidmores dry thoroughly between coats and then buff with a soft cloth or shoe brush.

This product is also very good for rejuvenating leather apparel such as motorcycle jackets, chaps etc. It also works well on furniture.

[Django]

Thanks Johnny, i found a UK supplier.
Django